Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

THE VOC EINLEITUNG APPROACH GOES EAST
Hancke/
Rhodes/
Thatcher
2007
(edited
volume)
King: The VoC can be applied to CEE as a framework of analysis, but it has to consider
post-communist similarities (importance of backwardness, lack of working-class pressure)
which are more important than the respective differences in terms of VoC typology. Two
expanded typologies, “liberal dependent capitalism” in Hungary and Poland and “patrimonial
capitalism” in Russia, are identified as a consequence of dependency conditions
in the former (dependency on FDI and technology transfer, lack of domestic banks and
stock markets, denationalized vocational training) and patrimonial network structures in
the latter, resulting from financial crisis.
Feldmann: The VoC approach is applied successfully to explain institutional diversity in
Slovenia and Estonia. Diversity is explained by a different degree of old networks between
economic actors, which were built under socialism and influenced by policy choices during
transition (e.g. mode of privatization).
Mykhnenko: Poland and Ukraine are institutional hybrids (mixed market economies)
which can function successfully and escape predetermined trajectories. No complementarity
effects between science/technology education system and revealed comparative trade
advantage are detected. As institutional and organizational factors explain only a part of
macroeconomic performance of post-communist countries, there is a need to integrate
exogenous factors (internationalization, globalization, Europeanization) into the national
state-oriented VoC approach.
Cernat
2006
In the Romanian case, the inconsistent mixture of domestic and external institutions
(“cocktail capitalism”) explains poor economic performance during post-communist transition.
Bohle/
Greskovits
2007
The VoC approach is difficult to apply to Eastern Europe as institutions are still not
consolidated. Four types of capitalist systems, based on institutional configurations and
performances are identified: state crafted neoliberalism of the Baltic States, world-market
driven neoliberalism of the CIS countries, embedded neoliberalism of the Visegrád countries,
and neo-corporatism in Slovenia. Capitalist diversity is explained by differences in
external factors and state capacity.
Paunescu/
Schneider
2004
Crowley
2008
Several OECD countries moved towards the liberal market model in a relatively short period
of time (1990-1999). Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have mixed systems.
The VoC framework is successfully applied to assess the type of capitalism which has
developed in CEE, particularly in the sphere of industrial relations (labor). However, the
VoC logic fails to explain the outcome in this sphere because it neglects the role of labor (its
absence and presence), the state and international actors as the main drivers of change.
Source: Own elaboration.
Seite Page page 14
Table 1 gives an overview of conclusions
on the VoC studies in postcommunist
countries. On the basis
of these conclusions, four summarizing statements
are made:
a. Variety defined in most studies based on postsocialist
economies. However, this variety often
refers to the stage of institutional and economic
development (e.g. FDI proportion, stock
market capitalization, privatization proportion),
which is explained as an outcome of historical